Majestic building suffering badly from rot and neglect
Alfred Waterhouse was commissioned by the Liverpool Seamen’s Orphan Institution to provide a home for children who had lost their families at sea. It remained an orphanage until 1949, later becoming Newsham Park Hospital. It finally closed in 1988 and since then has become increasingly derelict. Boarding on the windows and an onsite caretaker deter vandals and urban explorers, but water is still seeping in and dry rot is thought to be widespread. An application to convert the hospital into flats and build in its grounds was submitted a few years ago, but later withdrawn. Now a community group called the Newsham Park Community Development Association want to see the building brought back into use as a community facility, but progress is unlikely to be swift and in the meantime this wonderful building continues to be at risk.